#comparative study

Deviating from canon in Spiderverse ruins that world

So, I admit I am not a diehard Spiderman fan compared to some of you, but many features of the ‘traditional’ Spiderman story are familiar to me: the powers come from a radioactive spider; there is usually a great feat of strength involving the Spiderman pulling two large objects together; at some point they have to choose between saving a loved one or saving the lives of the general public; and of course, there are those famous dying words: “with great power comes great responsibility”. 

These features have been reused, recycled, readapted so many times as to basically become tropes. And Spiderverse makes full use of this, both as easter eggs and as a story mechanic.

In Spiderverse 2, these events are known as ‘canon’ events. They are the integral events that basically define what could be considered ‘authentic’ Spidermen

But, what happens when canon is broken? Well, they show that in the movie. The world, representing the story of that particular Spiderman, collapses in on itself and basically is destroyed. Because the story is over. There is no more to see. The implication is that things that don’t belong to canon disappear.

In the context of Spiderverse 2, this serves as the motive for almost all Spidermen to alienate Miles, the anomaly, the deviant from canon. It is also an excellent way to reinforce his insecurity that he doesn’t belong anywhere.

What happens to a story when it 'ends'?

Just like in Spiderverse 2, the concept of a story plays a major role in Shoumetsu Toshi. The Japanese mobile game starts off as something of an action adventure mystery, as a courier takes a young girl with mysterious powers to the aftermath of a disaster. But around the halfway point, you’ll realise that was never intended to be the point at all. Shoumetsu Toshi is essentially a study of the nature of storytelling.

Fairly early in the story, main characters Takuya and Yuki find out they are being ‘observed’ and controlled by a God-like being (us, the players), and beg us to help them overcome impossible odds to defeat the enemy in front of them and complete their goal.

And we do! But guess what happens when they reach their end goal? Tragedy befalls them again, as another story unfolds for us to ‘observe’. 

(This is not my photo, this is literally a screenshot from the game)

Watching the story continue starts to become synonymous with making the protagonists suffer, something that is made painfully evident in Yuki’s monologues.

In fact, seeing the story continue into infinity is the desire of the final antagonist, Beo, a stand-in for us god-like Observers, and someone who will go as far as to artificially manufacture conflict himself just to see how Takuya and Yuki will resolve it. 

The final goal of the main story then becomes figuring out a way to end the canon story. In a way it is a fascinating critique on (the sadly too many) stories that continue way past the point they were meant to end, just for the sake of more content for an audience willing to pay.

But then, what happens when do finally get to the end?

We get a couple of lines about the world becoming peaceful…for a while. And then, it gets destroyed.

It’s not made clear exactly why it happened, but the fact the attacker is a giant invincible tarot card with Beo’s image implies this is the will of the Observers. The characters, in their last moments, lament how quickly the world can still take what little happiness they have away from them. It’s worth mentioning that ‘Shoumetsu’ literally means to disappear, or be annihilated.

If we take a Beo-like Observer’s perspective, could this be saying that a story that doesn’t continue has no value in existing?

Isn’t it kind of similar to how once canon is broken in Spiderverse, the world has no choice but to collapse on itself? Because there is no more story beyond canon for the world to support.

What actually happens to a story when it ends? The characters in the story, as well as all the events that have happened until then, the entire world, the universe contained within that story, also end, right? That seems to be what happened in Shoumetsu Toshi. And it seems to be what the other Spidermen in the Spiderverse are actively trying to avoid.

It’s an interesting conundrum. To save everyone else’s worlds, Miles basically cannot be allowed to coexist alongside them.

I am very excited to see where Spiderverse 3 takes their story. I have no doubt they will come up with a poignant and creative way to resolve the conflict. Perhaps a way for Miles to trailblaze a new story just for himself; a twist on the original canon that is just as legitimate as any other Spiderman’s story.

But while we wait for that, I want to share Shoumetsu Toshi’s answer to a very similar problem, from chapter one of its epilogue.

How Shoumetsu Toshi chose to end its story

At the start of Epilogue, Takuya and Yuki are separated. Takuya (with Yuki’s brother Souma), attempts to move forward even when nothing is left in front of him. Yuki, on the other hand, follows a voice and finds herself in a triangular room with many doors. She then has a conversation. Literally facing the fourth wall. Talking directly to us.

Yuki talks about how she’s wanted to meet us, and that she is grateful to us for always cheering her on. But also, she does not want to be the one being observed anymore. She knows the Observers want the story to continue forever, but she doesn’t want that. She invites the Observers to come with her to the end of the journey, and find their happy ending together.

At some point, the voices of the Observers become a single voice - the voice of the first Observer, Sora, who is also the creator of this story.

Sora fears the end of the story. She doesn’t want to say goodbye to the characters she loves. Yuki will disappear if the story ends and she is forgotten.

But Yuki says that won’t happen. She will always be here (just in a place you can’t see her). No longer being together doesn’t mean the past never happened. They are connected now, through the journey they have taken together. 

Sora is actually afraid of being left alone. She has been using Shoumetsu Toshi as a form of escapism. But all good things must come to an end, and while continuing the story has its own value, Shoumetsu Toshi teaches us there is meaning as well in waking up from the dream and embracing the reality in front of you. That’s what it means to live.

Sora, Yuki, Takuya and Souma then open the doors to the epilogue together, embarking on one last journey to save their friends, tie up loose ends, and drive the story towards a true happy ending.

The end of canon is a gift

I want to pause for a moment here and talk about what the game creators are implying through this message. Basically, when the canon story ends, these characters and ideas don’t 'die'. A part of them remains with us, the Observers. And in a way, that means they surpass canon.

The creators want their characters to keep living on, through us, the players. And this is consistent with many other aspects of the game: from parallel worlds that serve as a convenient explanation for nonsensical April Fools situations and collaborative crossovers to exist (X X X), to their willingness to literally write a fan's OC into a canon ranking event. Heck, one of the chapters in the main story is straight up fanfiction of Takuya and Yuki, played off as a dream. 

Shoumetsu Toshi is a story the creators want to share with their audience. They actively encourage fan participation to shape and add a new layer of meaning to the game, in ways both good (like 'saving' a character at a live event to enable their story to continue) and bad (audience voting killed off a different character).

Shoumesu Toshi’s main message is ultimately a love letter to future creators. This is a story they want to share with you. This is a story they want you to pass on. Canon has provided the foundation, but now the rest is in the Observer’s hands. 

The characters will thank you in game, but they will live on, in the fanart, the fanfiction, the stories inspired by it, created by the Observers, the fans.

And I think this is the perfect way for a 'story' like this to ‘continue’. Canon is not everything. Canon is a gift to the imagination. The true power of canon is to inspire even greater creativity. 

It is rare to see such a positive and respectful message aimed directly at the fans embedded so deeply in the identity of a game, and I really want to see these messages more often in mainstream media.

How wonderful would it be if the ending of Spiderverse touches on this message even just a little bit? Spiderman is a franchise with such a long history, spanning so many stories, so many worlds, so many different types of media, touched by the hands of so many creators, and touching the hearts of so, so many more fans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a way to pay tribute to every single one of them? Regardless whether they are young or old, liked the comics or preferred the movies, a Marvel or Sony fan, diehard lore loyalist or secretly have their own Spiderman OC, whether they express their love through art, fiction, roleplay, or even just daydreams.

I just think it’d be really cool.

Sorry one more thing:

While I was going through old screenshots to research for this post, I realised the finalisation of Souma’s character arc is incredibly similar to Miles’ dilemma. Souma is the first antagonist of Shoumetsu Toshi, who goes through a redemption arc and basically joins the main character roster by the end. However, in Epilogue, he gets told over and over again by another version of himself that the plot will refuse to progress unless he sacrifices himself. That’s just how the story is meant to go. 

When I have time, maybe I'll write this bonus case study.

But if you want to read (a lot) more on Shoumetsu Toshi, I have summaries of the first two parts of main story here and here.